The President of the Assembly of the Republic, Ferro Rodrigues, made an unprecedented break from the neutrality that his position demands, saying in an interview on Friday, that the Galp ‘free tickets for MPs’ affair is a “mystery of Portuguese justice” and that, anyway, it happened a year ago.
Three secretaries of state, - Rocha Andrade, João Vasconcelos and Jorge Costa Oliveira, were forced to resign a year after accepting hospitality, flights and euro 2016 football match tickets for Portugal vs Hungary in Lyon, France.
Ferro Rodigues said that bringing a case against the three is "totally absurd", considering that the football match invitation was made by Galp in its role as a sponsor of the national football team. “"Where does this constitute a crime?" said Rodrigues, adding, "Why, after a year, is there now this situation where they are being accused? It is a mystery of Portuguese justice."
By expressing his views publicly, Rodrigues’ job as the President of the Assembly of the Republic must be called into question as, above all others, he must remain neutral in all matters.
His questioning of the legitimacy of operations of the Public Prosecutor's Office breaks the principle of separation of powers and puts undue pressure on the prosecution team.
Ferro Rodrogues is a former Secretary-General of the Socialist Party and is the current President of the Assembly of the Republic. This latter role makes him the second highest person in the State hierarchy, one down from the President of the Portuguese Republic.
The director at Galp who set up the expenses paid trip is a former minister in the José Sócrates socialist party government.
Carlos Abreu Amorim, deputy chairman of the PSD, said on Facebook that Rodrigues "criticises, insinuates and has a go at magistrates, in the worst tradition of José Sócrates," adding that “it is necessary to allow freedom for the whole justice system, without pressures and insinuations.”
The former Secretary of State for Tourism, Mesquite Nunes, said it is "curious" that Ferro Rodrigues "is sharing personal opinions about justice and that these opinions coincide with the interests of the Socialist Party and the Government."
